Thursday, August 6, 2015

Bakery Review: Cake Tahoe

I went to Lake Tahoe for my birthday weekend last month.
My sister rented a cabin for the weekend as her graduation gift to her kids and
a birthday gift to me. We all met up there and I embarked early Friday afternoon,
planning to get there around 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. Google maps said the
journey should take about 3 ½ hours and I left early afternoon, factoring in “a
little traffic” and estimated I would get there in 4 hours. Ha. I arrived 6 ½ hours
later. Ugh.

My niece’s boyfriend was grilling on the deck and since I
got there later than I had planned, I was hungry enough to chew off my own arm.
Fortunately, burgers were an alternative option so I indulged in one. Or two. Okay, okay, it was two! Told ya I was
hungry. I was pretty full afterward but then my nieces and my sister surprised
with me half a dozen birthday cupcakes.

They’d gotten it from a local bakery called Cake Tahoe
(Lake Tahoe, Cake Tahoe – get it?) in Truckee, CA. There were 6 different
flavors and the 6 of us split 5 and swapped taste forkfuls from each cupcake.
OMG. These cupcakes were amazing. I tried the creme brulee, red velvet, carrot, and chocolate cupcakes. The textures were perfectly fluffy and cakey as any
great cupcakes should be. I’m not a frosting person but the frosting was a good
complement to each cupcake to add some sweetness but also a creamy texture
contrast to the fluffy cakes. If you like Sprinkles cupcakes but think they’re
too “greasy” (I prefer to think of them of “moist”) then you might like Cake
Tahoe’s cupcakes better because they were moist but not greasy and were even
fluffier than Sprinkles.

Having enjoyed the cupcakes so much, I wanted to go see
Cake Tahoe for myself and take pictures for my blog. At least that’s what I
kept telling myself and everyone around me. I even brought my camera when we
went the following day (see, it was the truth). It’s a cute little shop,
definitely open for tourist business, at the end of the main drag for Truckee.
The cupcakes were in a display case at the front of the shop where they
rightfully took front and center, singing their siren song for hapless tourists
with a sweet tooth. “Come to us,” they croon. “Buy me and the little cupcake
next to me.”

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Confetti Cupcakes

I snapped some pics but then the inevitable happened.
Since I “was there” anyway, might as well get a couple of cupcakes, right? You
knew that was coming. I mean, they were singing and all.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Heath Bar Cupcake

I ended up with the Heath Bar and the
Coconut cupcakes. I was full of virtue and didn’t even eat them right there. We
wandered around Truckee for a bit, poked around at some of the shops, stopped
off at a candy store reminiscent of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (more
on that in a future post) then I dropped my nieces and their boyfriends off at
the beach and headed back to the cupcakes, I mean, cabin.

Carrot Cupcakes

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Salted Caramel Cupcakes (?)

I’ll spare you the song and dance of how long I did or
didn’t resist but yes, I ended up eating both cupcakes over the course of the
next 24 hours. The Heath Bar one calls for another “OMG”. Perfect,
beautiful, fluffy cake texture, great flavor and the toffee added a great
crunch. I even liked the frosting. I mean, hello, that’s huge. The coconut was
delicious as well but if I had to be a grown up and pick because really, I
shouldn’t be eating more than 1 cupcake, the Heath Bar would win for me.
I think it was even better than the cupcakes I had the previous evening.
Although that was due as much to not having eaten 2 burgers before eating a
bite from each of 5 cupcakes but anyway, awesome cupcake.

Vanilla Cupcake

Coconut Cupcake

So if you’re ever in the Tahoe/Truckee area, stop by Cake
Tahoe. They keep somewhat limited hours so you might want to time your visit
but trust me, it’d be worth it. I’m already wondering when I’ll be back in the
area. To visit my sister, of course. And get another cupcake.